Miyerkules, Hulyo 9, 2014

The Power of the True Meaning of Giving

NKTI's very jolly Dr. Tan with Joel.
Taken second week of June 2014.

When a true friend
is in need, we go a long way to help that friend through a crisis. Especially
when it concerns health, we rouse up the whole neighbourhood or town to come to
our aid on behalf of our friend or relative. We give of our time, our resources
and our talents to raise as much help as we can to alleviate the financial and
emotional burden that we feel and share with that person in distress.

Such is the love
and sacrifice of real friends at LogicGateOne and Charterbase Solutions have
for a precious relationship. This is the clear picture we see among the
friends, relatives and associates of Joel Castillo who is presently undergoing
medical treatment for acute myeloid leukemia, a form of cancer affecting the
blood.

Being a member of
the Alpha Phi Omega Fraternity, Joel’s frat brothers here and abroad have
pitched in to provide his medical needs. The inspiring expression of concern
warms the heart of Joel’s wife, Rose Castillo, to realize there are numerous
people, known and unknown to them, who have come out to answer the call for
help.

A SEO company in
Subic Bay Philippines, LogicGateOne
Corporation has done this by simply re-sharing and
spreading a fundraising campaign for Joel via Facebook. The campaign involves
selling t-shirts to those who are interested to give assistance to a frat
brother in need.

Giving is the only
activity that makes a person truly feel content about what he or she has.
Often, we feel down when we think we do not have enough, not realizing that
having a family, friends and the essential necessities in life can be real
abundance in a world where many less fortunate people languish in poverty and
dire need. Once we let go of something we feel is valuable, we suddenly realize
we have been made stewards of such possessions for a while in order to make the
lives of others more tolerable and even wonderful. From such an experience,
true and lasting happiness arises.

Dr. Claire Rosario trying to explain
what all the counts mean!

We need not give
one half or a third of our possessions in order to please God or to show we
truly have compassion and generosity. Many give their entire wealth and even
their life but do not have genuine love within them, as the good book points
out. We must give of ourselves first before we can truly give anything of
value. And once we have the understanding and the will to sacrifice our
material wealth and our precious time to reach out to others, there is great
value and power in what we truly own in life and giving to others will seem as
natural as if we were genuine philanthropists sharing a tiny surplus of our
enormous possessions. Besides, in giving there is nothing tiny or negligible.
What you give -- even two pesos -- if that is all that you have, is worth more
than the wealth of others.

Joel's 2d Echo test. Echocardiography
is also called an echo test. This test generates moving pictures of the heart
using sound waves. An Echocardiogram
helps evaluate various problems with the heart and its function. It gives
information about the heart’s structure and blood flow non-invasively.

The heart is where
all our treasures lie. Everything else is shareable for a heart that truly
loves.

Those who have not
learned this lesson on giving remain holding on to their wealth, not realizing
they will eventually give away their entire wealth to others when the time
comes for them to depart from this life. We know we cannot bring anything with
us except the good deeds we have done.

And so, giving is
the only way we can truly say we are rich. But more than that, giving is the
only way we can claim that we have made others rich as well for we allowed them
to share in our wealth. In this world, there is no wealth greater than that
kind of wealth. For eventually, giving will end in our receiving the promise of
God that “those who are merciful shall receive mercy”, not only in this world
but in the one to come.